Same Sex, Different City: The New Top 10 Places For Single, Professional Women To Live

According to new research compiled by BNET, Phoenix, Ariz., Seattle, Wash., and Austin, Texas, present the “perfect package of professional opportunity, social engagement and hot date potential that appeals to the modern single woman.” The study looked at real estate data from Rent.com to find out what kind of housing stock attracts single professional women and what they look for when selecting a city to live in. According to the Joint Center for Housing Studies, the three main reasons single women are buying homes in record numbers are: to relocate closer to a job or family; because they need more space; and because they have a strong desire to nest, even if they don’t have any little birds.

According to Christina Aragon, Director of Strategy & Consumer Insights at Rent.com, “In today’s society, women are choosing to get married later in life, pursuing higher degrees and continuing to close the salary gap. Never-married women are also now earning 94% of what their single male counterparts are earning, which has increased over the years. Because women are delaying marriage and starting families later in life, they are also therefore living alone for longer periods of time.”

The study revealed:

17% of female renters desire unattached men as neighbors.

25% of respondents would prefer to have a cat or dog next door in favor of a date-seeking male. This is quite different than the 45% of male renters who are hoping their neighbors are single ladies.

More than a third of all single women rent: 36% of single women are renters, 54% own their homes, and another 10% live with friends or family for free (mostly recent college grads under the age of 25).

Women who live independently want to be by themselves. Only 9% of unattached females choose living quarters with a roommate.

57% of those surveyed listed home value or apartment affordability as their top priorities.

And now let’s take a look at the 10 cities that made the cut for single, career-driven women.